Charity Royall or Charity is named for her good fortune in being adopted by a magnanimous man named Mr. Royall. He is one of the more interesting and unique characters I've read. Essentially the short novel's story revolves around Charity's self-obsession, Mr. Royall's capacity for strident evil, and a geographical array of turn of the 20th century societal structure where Charity is unfit (for many reasons) to be truly happy. The clearest, most depressing, and most cynical one is that she is selfish in a way we slowly come to realize is the center or force (or pulley) for self-destruction. I read a short story once by Wharton, 'The Eyes', which literally scared me so much I had monotone nightmares for days and have hid the rest of the book away as if a demon lived inside. Wharton basically treats the conception of self in a person as the scariest most precarious thing in reality. That's how I read her. There's two great scenes — the lake and the funeral — one great, sickening line — "I'll always remember you." — and generally nuanced social analysis. However, the cost of doing business with shit like ego in writing is that the writer themselves is emblematic almost always of the chemical issue they present in such detail. McCabe and Mrs. Miller in the 'oh really, they're fucking' reveal?